1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a folding assembly designed to facilitate the manual arrangement of any of a plurality of different articles into a folded orientation, on an independent basis, wherein various operative components of the folding assembly are expandable or extendable into their intended, operative position during the folding procedure, and are selectively disposable into a stored or collapsed, inoperative position to facilitate transport of the folding assembly between different locations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous devices exist which are directed to the arrangement of garments, as well as other articles, in a predetermined, folded position. Such folding devices vary from small manually operated structures, which may be used at home or in an environment where only occasional folding is required, to large mechanized folding devices, which are extremely expensive and primarily designed for strictly commercial environments where garments or other articles are manufactured and/or packaged in extremely large numbers. Devices of the type set forth above are commercially available and are primarily directed to an attempt to save both time and labor, which would normally be expended if the process were relegated to laboriously hand folding each article. In addition, except in the home or domestic environment, the hand folding of garments or other articles is generally unacceptable due to the lack of uniformity resulting from such manual folding. It is of course recognized that such uniformity in appearance of the folded article is a necessity in a commercial or retail establishment, wherein the folded article is made available in a container or package of standard dimension and configuration, or the folded article is presented for display in a manner which is hopefully appealing to the consuming public.
Accordingly, depended upon the particular area of application, folding devices have primarily been designed for specialized applications, in order to accomplish either individual or bulk folding of a variety of different types of articles or of specific articles, such as shirts or the like. Therefore, with the exception of the bulk folding of articles, as primarily used in the garment industry, the individual folding of garments or other articles is usually accomplished either by the use of fully or semi-automatic machines; small, inexpensive and less than durable folding boards; small apparatus specifically designed to fold garments or other articles for purposes of packaging or, as set forth above, by the individual hand folding of each item. A recognized disadvantage of the above set forth categories of folding devices is their lack of versatility and inability to be used other than in the specialized field, for which they are initially designed. For example, there is certainly no need or use for a fully or semi-automatic folding machine in a commercial or retail establishment, such as a department store the like, where uniform folding is important but, wherein the quantity of articles that must be folded, or refolded does not justify the expense of such mechanized equipment. Moreover, such mechanized devices do not generally provide a desirable degree of portability so as to allow workers to gather and fold items conveniently at a display location. Alternatively, folding tables or like devices which are manually operated are typically formed from inexpensive, light weight material having a relatively short operable life and which are specifically not intended to accommodate the folding of large numbers of garments or other articles. Likewise, such less sophisticated devices are still somewhat cumbersome to manipulate and move to a desired folding location when a number of spaced display locations are present within a particular establishment.
Also, in certain locations such as department stores or other similar retail establishments, available space is at a premium. Accordingly, space dedicated to the storage of a folding table or like device is typically unavailable. Known or conventional garment folding assemblies, of the type set forth above, are not readily adaptable for use in locations where the folding of garments or other articles is necessary for either display or packaging, but where the storage space needed to maintain such folding tables is at a minimum or non-existent.
Therefore, based on the above disadvantages and the overall failure of known or conventional designs to incorporate sufficient versatility and mobility to be adaptable for use in a variety of different commercial, retail and/or domestic environments, there is an obvious need in this area for an improved folding assembly. Such an improved folding assembly should be capable of being operated manually, but should also have sufficient versatility to be used with any one of a wide variety of different types of articles for arrangement thereof in a predetermined, folded orientation, resulting in the folded article having a sufficiently uniform appearance to facilitate its display and/or packaging. In addition, such an improved folding assembly should be inexpensive and light weight, yet be formed from materials and or structural components which assure a long operable life and which facilitate the folding device to be transported from location to location without placing undue stress on personnel responsible for its re-location or transport. Finally, an improved folding assembly of the type referred to herein should be capable of being selectively oriented in either an operative position or a collapsed position, wherein when in the collapsed position, the improved folding assembly has a significantly reduced size and configuration so as to be conveniently stored in any of a variety of locations, particularly in establishments where storage space is at a minimum.